's not like the debt ceiling where, if you hit that point and you haven't resolved something, the u.s. defaults on its credit. there's still very serious ramifications, but i think there's this expectation that, even if the fiscal cliff is hit, they will continue to work, try to hash out a deal. the pressure will only increase, obviously, as americans respond and the markets respond. so they would try in the days following still to reach an agreement. >> all right. we're going to be following you throughout the day, brianna. we hope some progress is made. thanks again, appreciate it. want to look beyond the politics here and go straight to the bottom line. how much do we all stand to lose if these talks actually fail. the tax policy center crunched out some numbers. they're pretty amazing, when you look at this. if you're single with no kids, you're going to see taxes go up by $1,500 a year. the news is even worse for a married couple with two kids making $100,000. they'd see their taxes go up $5,300 a year. cnn's christine romans is here to answer another question. who's going to be
